Contests

Hello, Hallowinners of the PHB’s 13th Costume Contest 🎃🏅

Happy Halloween, Poptropicans! 🎃🍬

The day of candy collecting (and consumption) is upon us, and we’re here with some (eye) candy of our own: announcing the winners of this year’s 13th Annual Poptropica Help Blog Halloween Costume Contest!

Our theme this year was Grim & Whimsical. After going through everyone’s frightening and fabulous ‘fits, we’ve narrowed it down to a grand prize winner for each category! Behold:

💀 Grand Grim 💀

“Cardinal Curse” by Jean of Pop

Wow, what a bewitching masterpiece! From the wild hair to the creepy grin and frayed skirt, this unkempt witch goblin creature just screams for your attention. We can’t tell if they’re friend or foe, but that may be their beauty. Will this cursed one curse you or cure you?

Congrats to Jean of Pop for bagging a second grand prize title (the first being in our 2019 Halloween contest)! And now for our next category…

🎭 Whimsical Winner 🎭

“Pineapple” by Brave Fox

Now that’s whimsical! This anthropomorphized fruit just looks so happy with its toothy smile and summer shades. Plus, what a clever use of the Colorizer to create the color tones, with scales for texture, and the Elf Queen’s leafy wings. Hilarious and healthy, and we’re here for it.

Congrats, Brave Fox! Both Hallowinners will be getting a 1-month membership from the PHB, and their outstanding outfits will be immortalized on our Costumes page. Enjoy!


💀 Honorable Mentions 🎭

Hold on, there’s more! We received so many amazing entries that we just had to show you more, and that’s what Honorable Mentions are for. Take a look at these delightfully Grim getups embracing the dark side:

And on the flip side, find these fascinating Whimsical wonders embodying the spirit of sugar, spice, and everything nice:


Whether you gave your Popsona a glow-up or simply watched from the shadows, thanks for joining us in our spooky season shenanigans! You can browse even more fang-tastic costumes in the comments of the costume post, as well as on our Costumes Look Book for more stylish sensations from over a decade of past Halloweens.

🎃 Happy Halloween, queens and jellybeans! 🎃

🦇 the Poptropica HORROR Blog 🦇

Fan Art Features, Social Media

Spooky shorts and story imports 👻😈

Hey Poptropicans! We’ve got spooky short clips, villain fan art, and the biggest horror of all: Poptropica going down? Pop in to see what’s up!

Throughout Red October, we’ve been seeing lots of quick video clips of scary moments from Poptropica, especially from old islands. Now in the latest Pop Creators’ Blog post, you can see them in one place!

And in case you can’t access the embedded TikTok clips (as the service is not available in all regions), you can also find the Spookiest Moments series as YouTube shorts on Poptropica’s channel. The collection includes Virus Hunter in general, carnies transforming on Monster Carnival, Fiona’s voice in Ghost Story, the Jersey Devil from Cryptids, and (not on the Creators’ Blog) Squid Game in Poptropica. Chillsssssss.

👻 Craving more? See the PHB’s review on Scariest Poptropica Moments! 👻


In addition to haunted highlight reels, the Pop Creators have also been featuring fan art on their Instagram stories! The latest batch includes lots of pink hair, grinning villains, and even a horse turned human:


Earlier this weekend, some Poptropicans noticed that Poptropica was down for maintenance. But worry not! As of this writing, the site is now back up with no notable changes. Could this be a sign of Mission Atlantis coming really soon? Time will tell!

That’s all for this update. Stay tuned for our Halloween contest winners to be announced very soon, and have a happy Halloweekend! 🎃👻

~🐠

Mission Atlantis Island, Social Media

Dune us dirty: Mission Atlantis to be members only ⌛️🏝

Hey Poptropicans! An old island is bubbling up, and in the meantime, tweets from sandy places are coming to surface. Let’s pop in for a look.

Earlier this month, Poptropica announced that they’ve been working on bringing Mission Atlantis Island back, and this week they dropped more details on the Creators’ Blog!

Sadly, they’re not just krilling us with the puns, but also with the news that this returning adventure will be for members only, unlike before. It’s still unclear whether we’ll be seeing the full island or just an episode, as other episodic islands on Haxe so far have only been released with Episode 1. Whatever the case, though, it’s coming soon — how soon? Again, the water’s murky on this one.

Here’s an open secret, though: everyone can currently play all three episodes of Mission Atlantis on the Poptropica mobile app! And for a primer on what awaits you above and below the seas, you can fish out our handy Mission Atlantis Island Guide.


It’s looking much more dry over on Poptropica Twitter, though. The Creators recently pulled out a pic of the desert from Arabian Nights Island and compared it with Dune, the recent sci-fi film.

They’ve also been retweeting posts from Poptropica fans, such as this cluster of chalkboard doodles including one celebrity bunny…

…as well as a college student unashamedly playing Poptropica, because why not work hard and play hard?

That wraps up this little update! When do you think Mission Atlantis will make its big splash? Do you prefer Dune or Arabian Nights? Thanks for popping by, and see you in the next one!

~🐠

Counterfeit Island, PHB Specials, Super Villain Island

Interpreting the Main Four’s dreams, pt. 3: Black Widow 🖌

Hello and welcome to a third dream interpretation! (If you haven’t already, you can check out the previous installments in this series here and here.)

In this post, I’ll be exploring the dream world of the crafty art thief Black Widow. Let’s pop into it!


Overall, there’s not a ton of material to work with in this dream. While the player enters stolen paintings and cleans up graffiti, the Black Widow herself mostly stands around and watches. The setting isn’t particularly interesting either, seeing as she spends a good deal of her waking life inside art museums; it’s likely just a reflection of her life and isn’t meant to represent anything.

With that being said, this dream isn’t useless. Not at all. For one thing, it gives us a new look into Black Widow’s shining personality, something we didn’t get to see much of in Counterfeit Island alone.

Her dream suggests that she’s a bold, fierce villain with a fiery temper and a disregard for hesitation, as shown when she chases and attacks you with nothing but her own two fists! (In a dream, attacking someone might represent confrontation against a threat or a defensive attitude.) And when she’s called out for her villainy, Black Widow refuses to listen and keeps focusing on her goals–traits she might share with the Binary Bard.

Ouch!

Another key part of this dream is the destruction of Black Widow’s own portrait. Dreams about any sort of damage and destruction could represent a number of things: guilt, failed expectations, hopelessness, or, most interestingly, a ruined relationship.

Remind you of anything?

The Strange Man (also known as the Brown Recluse) fits this interpretation perfectly. Throughout the happenings of Counterfeit Island, the Strange Man works as Black Widow’s right-hand man; until for reasons best known to herself, Black Widow betrays him, leaving him tied to a chair alongside the player in her underground lair. The Strange Man proceeds to side with the player and ends the Black Widow’s art-stealing career once and for all.

Could it be that Black Widow’s reflecting on this dismissal? From what I can tell, her betraying the Strange Man was entirely unprovoked, but then again, they don’t call her the Black Widow for nothing…

Looking closer at Black Widow’s attack, a final point I’ll bring up is her chasing the player to reach them, which could represent an attempt to be in control or get ahold of something.

Gotta run fast!

Here’s what I’ve gathered based off of these hints: Black Widow is missing her right-hand man, but is trying to act as though she isn’t, hence the defensiveness suggested by her attacking the player. After all, she’s a solitary being akin to the spider she’s named for; she uses someone for what she needs them for and then lets them go. She’s the opposite of loyal.

But why? Pretending to trust someone only to betray them will only turn them against her, as shown when her entire villainous career slips down the drain thanks to the Strange Man. Wouldn’t it be more useful to have kept her servant instead of creating another enemy? The confrontation against a threat also suggested by her attack could add to this. As for trying to assert control over a situation, well, maybe she’s just frustrated that she’s hopelessly trapped inside a cryotube in Erewhon Prison instead of out resurrecting her art-stealing life. 🕷️

That’s it for today, everyone. I’ll see you for my next but possibly not last post in this series, highlighting the Binary Bard and his spectacular dream! Pop on,

~💜

Free Membership Giveaways

PHB Membership Giveaway: October 2021

Hey Poptropicans, we’re approaching the end of the month, which means it’s time to announce another lucky Poptropican to win our monthly membership giveaway! 🎁

Congrats, coconotmilq — your first foray into paid-for Pop privilege unearths a treasure trove of exclusive costumes and clubhouse items from the store, as well as the chance to play the members-only Rumpel’s Challenge. Pop on over and away from the chaos of life!

If you’re not a member, you still have the chance (or many chances, in fact): the PHB is hosting a giveaway every month, and it’s easy to enter! Just comment on the Free Poptropica Membership page and leave at least two other comments around the PHB within the month to be entered into that month’s giveaway.

We’ll announce a winner sometime in the final week of each month. If you don’t win, you can always try again for the next month! Full details »

Don’t forget we also have another opportunity for membership this month with the PHB’s Halloween Costume Contest! Blow us away with your grim get-up or whimsical wonder, and you might just win a prize.

Congrats again to coconotmilq, and as always, keep on popping on! 🥥